Injury resulting from obeying an Home Owners Association mandate
Posted on : 07-03-2009 | By : Legal Information | In : Other Legal Topics
0
The Home Owners Association to which I belong enforces a mandate (not sure if this is the proper word for it) which decrees that all homes on the lower levels must maintain the tree heights on their properties at 16′ or lower to assure the ocean views of homes on the ridge line above these lower-level properties. There is no restriction that applies to the tree-heights on the properties of the homes on the higher levels, presumably because, being on higher ground, they do not block anyone’s views of the ocean. Enforcement is complaint-driven.
A problem for many home-owners on the lower levels is that adherence to the 16′ height-level of trees is prohibitive, costing thousands of dollars to contract for professionals to trim or cut down the trees. Many elderly people who live in our community governed by this HOA mandate are on fixed incomes and cannot afford this huge expense.
My question is this: If a home owner, ordered by the home owners association to adhere to the mandate, were to hurt himself or herself attempting to trim or cut down the trees on his/her property himself or herself, could he/she sue the home owners association?
A second question is: If the injured homeowner were awarded a judgment against the home owners association, would the HOA be able to assess its members for payment of this judgment award?
A third question: Is there ANYTHING a home-owner without the funds to comply with this HOA tree-height mandate do not to comply?
Thank you!
